Take-out pizza is typically contained in a cardboard box. The pizza box is often constructed of a single, flat piece ("blank") of cardboard that has been pre-stressed along a matrix of fold lines, and is assembled (inter-folded) into a box structure by folding various panels, sidewalls, flaps and tabs of the blank along these fold lines and inserting the tabs into slits made in the cardboard. The resulting box (container) is relatively long and wide (major dimensions), nominally square (on the order of twelve to twenty inches in each of the length and width dimensions) to contain a round pizza, and has a relatively shallow depth (minor dimension, on the order of one and three-quarter inches). The resulting container structure is very rigid so that it can maintain its box structure shape, so that it can be carried by its edges, and so that multiple containers (pizza boxes) can be stacked one atop the other without deformation.
The sidewall panels of the box are initially somewhat flexible, depending upon the (paper) stock used for the box blank. However, when the blank is inter-folded, or assembled into a box structure, the sidewall panels, especially the rear sidewall panel connecting the top "lid" panel to the bottom "tray" panel, become rather rigid structural members. In essence, the sidewalls of the container form "trusses".
An assembled pizza box is relatively large (e.g., 12-20 inches) when compared with an opening in a trash receptacle (container). Hence, it is difficult to fit the assembled pizza box into the trash receptacle, since the "major" dimensions (length and width) of the box usually exceed the size of the opening in the trash receptacle. And, after the pizza box is deposited into the trash receptacle, it usually takes up an inordinate amount of space therein, seriously adversely affecting the remaining space in the trash receptacle for other garbage.
One way of making a pizza box fit more easily into a trash receptacle is to fold the box at least once (lengthwise or widthwise) so that it is only half of its original, assembled size (i.e., one of the "major" dimensions is reduced by half). However, the inherent structural rigidity of the assembled (inter-folded) pizza box makes it rather difficult to fold in half. This is especially true when the box is formed from a corrugated cardboard blank.
In order to fold the assembled box in half, it is usually necessary to grasp opposing edges of the box and fold the box about a stationary point, such as one's knee, the edge of a table, or the like. This is a terrible nuisance, especially when the box has become contaminated with excess foodstuff, such as oil, from the pizza.
It is also possible to cut the assembled pizza box into smaller pieces, so that each piece fits easily into the opening of a trash receptacle. This is better than folding in that many small pieces can be formed, but is worse than folding in that excess foodstuff within the box is no longer contained.
What is needed is a pizza box that is easy to fold or otherwise deform into a smaller size (or into several smaller size pieces) for easy disposal thereof in a trash receptacle having an opening smaller than the length or width dimension of the assembled pizza box.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,984,734 discloses a stackable articulated carton tray for flat food products, especially pizza pies. The patent discloses "panels", "fold edges", "sidewalls" and interlocking "flaps".
U.S. Pat. No. 4,979,667 discloses a pizza "tray" and "lid", prepared from a single "blank" of "paperboard" or the like.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,960,238 discloses a 2-Piece Pizza Box with cut-out corners. The cut-out corner sections provide for inward flexibility of the tray sidewalls when a cover panel is fitted over the tray panel.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,944,452 discloses a multiple pizza container formed of a single double-sided corrugated blank including a matrix of "score" and "fold" lines to enable interfolding of the blank.
U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,567,341, 4,476,989, 4,360,107, 4,058,214, 3,650,383, Des. 292,176 and Des. 274,889 disclose additional pizza boxes and containers.
These references are cited, generally, as indicative of the state of the art in pizza boxes, and for establishing a lexicon of commonly-used terminology. None of the above-referenced pizza boxes and containers appear to provide means for deforming or otherwise altering an assembled box having relatively large dimensions for easy disposal in a trash receptacle having a relatively smaller opening.